Johnstone enjoyed a 22-game loan spell with Villa during the second half of last season, keeping eight clean sheets, and the claret and blues remain confident of bringing him back to Villa Park for another stint between the sticks.

In recent weeks Johnstone has been touted for a move to Villa’s Championship promotion rivals Middlesbrough with Garry Monk eager to sign a new goalkeeper, while Premier League sides Crystal Palace, West Brom, Leicester City and Huddersfield Town have all been linked to the 24-year-old.

But Wyness, who takes on the bulk of Villa’s transfer workload, says the club are still at the head of the queue for Steve Bruce’s No.1 target.

“I would hope for something next week,” Wyness said. “United still don’t know what they’re doing with their goalkeeping situation. I think we’re still in pole position.”

Villa are likely to pursue a loan deal with Manchester United for Johnstone, but a permanent deal isn’t out of the question if they can raise the funds.

Amavi

Aston Villa are edging closer to selling in-demand defender Jordan Amavi to Sevilla with the two clubs locked in talks over the Frenchman.

Villa manager Steve Bruce is willing to sell the French left-back, who has interest from a host of clubs on the continent.

But Sevilla are now in advanced talks over a deal for Amavi and are hopeful of completing the signing in the coming weeks.

Whelan latest

Steve Bruce is optimistic Glenn Whelan will be Aston Villa's next signing following John Terry's arrival.

But Villa still have plenty of work to do to strike a deal with Stoke City for the midfielder.

An offer believed to be in the region of £500,000 was rejected last month by the Potters who are understood to want twice that amount.

Bruce believes the 33-year-old Irish international will add the "steel, determination and aggression" Villa have been lacking.

“We made a bid a couple of weeks ago and nothing has changed," said Bruce.

"That is where we are.

"I think we need to have a little bit more steel and determination and aggression, especially in the Championship. I have left that with the powers that be so that could be the next one hopefully."

Bob

An ITV newsreader has angered Birmingham City supporters after reading out a chant devised by Aston Villa fans labelling them 'scum' live on air.

Experienced presenter Bob Warman was reading fans' reactions to Villa's signing of John Terry during yesterday's ITV News Central show at 6pm when he enraged Bluenoses.

Walsall-born Warman, 70, has been working as part of ITV Central's team for over 40 years and anchors the 6pm slot alongside Sameena Ali-Khan.

Warman, reading from an autocue, said: “Someone even wrote a poem about the signing. It’s a bit of a curious one this, but anyway I’ll carry on with it. Home of the Villa tweeted: ‘We’ve got Terry, John Terry, I just don’t think you understand, he could have gone to the scum but he chose the pride of Brum'."

While Villa supporters found the TV mishap amusing, their Blues counterparts promised to complain to ITV.

The Birmingham Mail contacted ITV Central for a response, Head of News Liz Hannam said: "We often report reactions to our news and sports stories and no offence was intended."

Cryptic

Since Dr Tony Xia took over at Aston Villa just over a year ago, the claret and blue faithful have become used to his teasing tweets and cryptic messages.

Now it seems it isn't just Tony's tantalising equations that they have to fathom out, the sponsors are trolling them too!

Unibet have taken to social media to join in the fun.

The latest Villa related tweet from the new shirt sponsors, seems to hint at something exciting on the horizon for the fans.

They tweeted: "Time for AVFCOfficial fans to start believing the unbelievable . . . You never know what Dr_TonyXia has up his sleeve! ;) # PartOfThePride

Saint Etienne are still tracking him but will have to meet Villa's price demands to secure his signature.

Veretout spent last season in Ligue 1 and is keen on a return.

A move is expected to be sorted before the season starts however the earlier the better for the ex-Nantes ace.

Portugal

Steve Bruce has taken his players away to Portugal for a week of team-building exercises that he hopes will help shape their 2017/18 season.

The seniors are out here in the Algarve on an intensive fitness camp where the players are being put through their paces on gruelling morning and afternoon workouts.

Villa’s first-team are embracing the double sessions and putting in the hard yards to build a base for the Championship rigours that lie ahead.

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John Terry - the full transcript

Initiation...

It will come back to bite me on the bum. I’ve sat there many a time laughing at the initiation ceremonies! Listen, it will be really different for me, it feels strange but at the same time I’m excited. I’ve been really lucky to be at one club all my career, this takes me out of my comfort zone, something I’ve never had to do, but I’m excited by it.

When did you decide to join?

Three or four days ago. At the end of the last season, I was saying I’m going to get away to Portugal for a week and switch off, but I couldn’t get my head around playing for another club, it took a lot longer than I first thought.

When you’ve been there that long, it’s only natural, there were a lot of emotions over the summer, so it took two or three weeks.

Steve being really respectful of that, and I asked for a little bit more time, I played golf with Steve a bit, got talking, but that’s been ongoing. Listen, I have huge respect for him as a player and as a person for the way he’s dealt with me.

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Jordan

Simon Jordan has put the boot in on Birmingham City again, with the former Crystal Palace owner tipping Aston Villa for promotion over their second city rivals.

The 49-year-old, who resigned from his Selhust Park post when Palace went into administration in 2010, often sides with the claret and blue half of Birmingham when it comes to replying to supporters on social media channel Twitter.

After Villa were victorious in April's derby against Blues, Jordan was quick to send a sarcastic message seemingly happy that Steve Bruce's side had taken three points.

Before that, he accused Blues of not being a 'proper football club' like Villa.

Yesterday, responding to a question from a fan asking him for his view on Harry Redknapp's side's chances of promotion this season, Jordan said: "Not as great as #avfc".

The Surrey-born businessman, who made his fortune in the mobile phone industry, has described himself as being "good enough to be a professional (footballer)", but his career never took off.

He bought Palace in 2000, becoming the Football League's youngest chairman, before his ownership came to an end 10 years later with the Eagles embroiled in deep financial trouble.

Jordan announced plans to return to football in January, but is yet to find himself in a new role.

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No more excuses!

"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else" ~ Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Xia appeared to share the founding father's opinion on excuses this week as he attempted to set the tone ahead of the 2017/18 season,

It was interesting to observe fans wary response to Dr. Xia's expression of confidence in the team and his public endorsement of Dwight Yorke's comments regarding the level of difficulty experienced in the Championship.

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Kodjia

Aston Villa have been handed a huge injury boost with club medics now hopeful that star striker Jonathan Kodjia will be fit for the season opener with Hull City.

Kodjia went under the knife in Belgium in May after breaking his ankle during the 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers at the end of last season and Steve Bruce feared he could be without his talisman for up to 'six months'.

Surgeons told Bruce that it would be three months before Kodjia could return to the training pitches, but the Ivory Coast international is making rapid progress and has set his sights firmly on August 5.